Note 1278 — THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. (continued 7)

It is not yet published.—In a letter to me, Mr. Agutter says, 'My sermon before the University was more engaged with Dr. Johnson's moral than his intellectual character. It particularly examined his fear of death, and suggested several reasons for the apprehension of the good, and the indifference of the infidel in their last hours; this was illustrated by contrasting the death of Dr. Johnson and Mr. Hume: the text was Job xxi. 22-26.' BOSWELL. It was preached on July 23, 1786, and not at Johnson's death. It is entitled On the Difference between the Deaths of the Righteous and the Wicked. Illustrated in the Instance of Dr. Samuel Johnson and David Hume, Esq. The text is from Job xxi. 23 (not 22)-26. It was published in 1800. Neither Johnson nor Hume is mentioned in the sermon itself by name. Its chief, perhaps its sole, merit is its brevity.